Why your School Needs an Online Presence

The internet has become a tool that every form of business needs in order to run effectively. In today's world, running a school without having an online presence is like running a school in the 'Agrarian Age'. And that's a no-no for the 21st century school. In a few years most of the things we do today, manually, will be done totally online. And we are approaching a time in Nigeria when teachers will deliver their lessons online, and most schools seem not to be preparing for that time.

Everything is becoming digital, and for schools, it is time to take advantage of this trend and measure up to the future that is already knocking at the door. Certain things are supposed to be readily available online for parents' consumption: School News, School Prospectus, Admission Forms, Enquiry Forms, Entrance Aptitude Test etc. An online presence that is very active will no doubt keep parent happy, as that will make them have this feeling of belonging to a family.

Having a website is just the foundation of your online presence. There are other digital platforms that make up a viable online presence for a school or any other form of business: WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube etc. Having these tools working actively is vital to business success, and your school is not an exception.

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Advantages of an Online Presence

1. Brand Awareness

A viable online presence helps you increase your school brand awareness. It makes your brand visible to prospective parents/clients thereby leading to growth.

2. Audience Reach

A lot of people are spending more of their time on Social Media. This means that you cannot limit your online presence to only a website. Social media platforms enable you reach a wider audience with your brand.

3. Relationship

Growing your school requires building and maintaining a healthy relationship with parents. It is a fact that you cannot meet with every parent and pupil to have a chat about your school. Your online presence therefore solves this dilemma through your engaging and informative school website. And for those who are highly inquisitive, channels like Facebook and Twitter can help you attend to such inquisitive parents, thereby building a solid relationship. A dedicated FAQ Page on your website also helps in attending to questions from parents and pupils.

Learn: You too can design your own website. Learn more...

4. Increased Accessibility

A viable and broad online presence makes you available 24/7 to your visitors, and the importance of this should not be underestimated. The advent of smart phones has made more people become very active online. For this reason, schools must gear up and meet the online needs of prospective parents.

Parents want to get as much information as possible about your school before visiting. And the means of betting such are your online platforms.

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*©Mondayspeaks*

Public Speaker and Teacher trainer!

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The Great Lag

I have worked and met with quite a number of teachers, most of whom do not have any background in education. They ended up as teachers because of the inability to secure jobs elsewhere. I observed that at the early stage of their teaching career these teachers have difficulty fitting into the teaching ecosystem. I do not blame them, but the poor system of education we have successfully built for ourselves as a nation.

Universities are supposed to train people to be universally acceptable, and this means finding no difficulty fitting into a field different from your primary training. The university system around here doesn't train you in that way,so you as an individual owe yourself that responsibility as you pass through the system.

It is quite unfortunate that only a very small percentage of university students see things from this perspective. And when they all move into the labour market, another small percentage catches that vision. So, only these few are able to create a source or sources of income for themselves. The others run from place to place seeking for employment, which may not come.

Those who get the employment eventually spend the rest of their lives sitting behind a desk in an office working 9-5 daily. Another small percentage of this group catches the vision ye again as they grow in their 9-5 career. So, they try moving from being employed to becoming self-employed. If they work at it and learn, then they succeed at becoming business owners.

The ultimate question is, "Where does the lag lie?" In my opinion, the lag lies in the education system that has been designed to perpetually produce modern slaves who will serve the purpose of the 'REAL' in the society. 'REAL' stands for 'Royal'. Around the world, there are names that carry tremendous weight because they are part of the 'REAL'.

If you have heard of names like 'Lee', 'Rockefeller' etc then you would agree with me that those who answer to these names in their original sense are never poor. We have the same trend in Nigeria, and I am sure you can list such names.

Over time, the list of such names has grown as more people get to catch the vision early in their lives and liberate their families from modern slavery. Unfortunately, the work to be done is still ginormous and our education system should wake up to this responsibility now. 

Practical Entrepreneurship should be made a part of the secondary school curriculum. We need a curriculum created by those with experience in the current trend in the world. And not a curriculum that is based on any textbook. Most of those who have made names as Entrepreneurs did not achieve such by reading academic textbooks.

This article is simply a wake-up call intended to spur entrepreneurial consciousness, and not to flaw formal education. So, if you are reading this as a school owner or administrator, you should resonate with it and think of how to use your school to contribute your quota to a future that is about to be born. A future where kids start thinking of entrepreneurship from age 9, and not the next cartoon series to see on t.v. This is the future we crave, and this is the future we will have!

PS: I help schools retain loyal customers (parents) through creation of great contents that help such customers learn new things in diverse areas of life as value-added service.

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